1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a paper machine for manufacturing a fibre web of paper without through air drying (TAD) or pressing, comprising:                a wet end, comprising a wire section comprising at least one forming wire for forming the fibre web, a clothing, being air and water permeable, and at least one dewatering unit for dewatering the fibre web,        a drying section, comprising a drying surface for drying the fibre web, and        a transfer roll, being arranged for interacting with the drying surface at a transfer nip for transferring the fibre web from the wet end to the drying section, wherein the fibre web is supported by said clothing from the wire section all the way to and through the transfer nip.        
Furthermore, the present invention relates to a method for manufacturing paper in a paper machine without through air drying (TAD) or pressing, said method comprising the steps of:                forming a fibre web in a wire section,        supporting the fibre web by an air and water permeable clothing from the wire section to a drying section, and dewatering the fibre web within this distance by at least one dewatering unit,        transferring the fibre web from the clothing to a drying surface of the drying section, and        removing the fibre web from the drying surface.        
Furthermore, the present invention relates to paper manufactured according to said method.
2) Description of Related Art
A conventional tissue machine has a press section where the paper web, being supported by one or several felts, is brought through one or several dewatering presses in order to increase the dryness of the paper web. However, dewatering presses have the negative effect, in connection with soft paper, of reducing the bulk of the final paper web, which in this type of paper machine normally does not exceed 7-10 cubic centimeters per gram.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,287,426 discloses a press-equipped paper machine, having a press section and structuring means for recreating at least some of the bulk being lost during the passage of the paper web through the press section. The structuring means is constituted of a clothing, on one hand, in the form of a structured, permeable wire carrying the paper web from the press section to the drying section of the paper machine, and of a suction device, on the other hand, being placed in sliding contact with the inside of the wire, i.e. the side facing away from the paper web, in order to suck the paper web into close contact with the wire and in that way increase the bulk of the paper web.
The structuring means according to U.S. Pat. No. 6287426 is not successful in recreating the bulk of the paper web as the web fibre framework is already fixed in the pressing and the fibres are not movable relative to each other due to the higher dryness of the web. It is difficult with such a means, or in any other way, to “repair” the bulk-destroying effect which dewatering pressing nips have on the fibre framework of a paper web. Accordingly, when manufacturing high-bulk soft crepe paper such pressing nips should be avoided.
As an alternative to pressing it is also known in the art to use a through air drying process, commonly known as TAD, for dewatering the paper web. A TAD unit comprises a perforated rotating cylinder covered by a large hood. The paper web, being supported by an air and water permeable clothing, is led over the cylinder and dry hot air is forced through the paper web and clothing and into the openings in the cylinder. The air is then re-circulated to the hood after being dewatered and dried. The TAD unit is large and complex and requires a large investment when building a TAD paper machine. Furthermore, a TAD process for dewatering the paper web is expensive as drying and re-circulation of the air requires a large amount of energy.
EP 0440697 discloses a paper machine, which in one operating configuration provides a technique free of through air drying and pressing for manufacturing high-bulk soft crêpe paper. The paper machine can be switched between a first operating configuration and a second operating configuration. In the first operating configuration, a felt is arranged, in a conventional way, for picking up the paper web from a forming wire of the wire section of the paper machine and bringing the paper web over first a press roll, and then a blind-bored roll, said rolls interacting with a Yankee cylinder in the drying section of the paper machine. In the second operating configuration, producing a paper web with higher bulk and softness values in relation to the fibre web produced in the first operating configuration, the blind-bored roll has been omitted, and furthermore, the felt has been replaced with a belt of wire type, on one hand, and the forming wire has been extended, on the other hand, so that it runs all the way to the Yankee cylinder in order to enclose the paper web between itself and the belt. Accordingly, the belt, the forming wire and the paper web constitute a sandwich structure when they are running all the way to the drying section, within which distance the paper web is dewatered while being enclosed between the belt and the forming wire.
In its second operating configuration, the paper machine according to EP 0440697 produces soft crepe paper with relative high bulk and softness values. Also this paper machine, however, exhibits drawbacks. Due to the sandwiched structure of the paper web it has proved to be difficult to achieve the desired dewatering of the paper web before the drying section, which in its turn has limited the production speed and increased drying requirements in the drying section. Also, the sandwich structure has a negative effect on the bulk of the final paper web.